Thursday, January 31, 2008

KRCL Update: Get Ready for Baby Boom Radio

[Focus Group Hell] A consultant hired by KRCL 90.9 FM presented findings of his focus group research to the station’s board of directors last night (see City Weekly's Jan. 31 cover). The upshot: Focus groups really like listening to the Beatles, Stones, Doors, Dylan and Hendrix.

Babs De Lay, one of the KRCL’s volunteer programmers who attended the board meeting at Horizonte, wanted to know if the consultant had asked any black people?

The consultant’s response: How many minorities, are there really in the Salt Lake valley? (That brought grumbling from some at the back of the room, considering KRCL has for years been telling granting agencies that serving Utah’s minority communities was the reason for its existence.)

It’s all a numbers game, Peter Dominowski, principal of Market Trends Research, told volunteers and the board: Don’t get all high and mighty thinking you are providing some special service.

“Public service equals audience. They are synonymous,” he said. “Getting people to listen is the mission.”

Those who hoped focus groups of KRCL listeners would behave any differently than focus groups anytime, anywhere, were sorely disappointed. The pinheads who participate in focus groups said what they always say:

They want music that is “comfortable and familiar.” Music that is “appropriate” to listen to at work; that’s “uplifting and calming.” They don’t like to be challenged, or “work too hard” listening to the radio. As one focus group participant put it: “Different kinds of music, I just don’t like them.”

Focus groupies do like to hear the same songs over and over again. People don’t form emotional attachments to music, or a music station, without repetition, said Dominowski. And those emotional attachments are what make listeners contribute to fund drives.

KRCL should “adapt” techniques used by commercial stations. It should play “time tested artists,” and avoid “stressful,” “odd” or “polarizing” music during primetime, said Dominowski, who has been consulting public radio since 1985, providing focus group magic to more than 100 stations in the past two years.

Dominowski knows what the people want, because, with KRCL’s program director, he played music to six focus groups of 10 people each in late November. All participants were KRCL listeners. Two groups said KRCL was their favorite station. The other four were made up of people who sometimes listened to KRCL, but liked other stations better.

The guinea pigs were played five different two-and-a-half-minute music mixes, then asked to rate the music and give their thoughts.

Focus groups weren’t played any blues, jazz, or R&B. Those music types had already been excluded by analysis of Arbitron data measuring KRCL’s historic listener numbers.

The “heritage rock” mix of Beatles et al. had the broadest appeal across age and gender lines. (“All bands that I know,” said a focus groupie. “Felt like an old friend.”)

The indie mix (including Tegan and Sara and TV on the Radio) was “not uplifting” said focus groupies, who somehow were scared by the poppy The Thermals.

Older listeners hated the “urban contemporary” mix including M.I.A. and The Roots.

On the other hand, the “modern adult contemporary” mix (including Josh Ritter and Feist) was “well accepted.”

The consultant’s bottom line: KRCL should play a mix of “heritage rock” and “modern adult contemporary.” In the future, the difference between KRCL and the oldies station will be that KRCL will play the B sides.

Dominowski said the sound would be like (all together now) WXPN in Philadelphia. That just happens to be the direction station management was hinting at more than one year before the consultant ever set foot in Salt Lake City.

Much of Wednesday’s presentation to the board was made up of bar graphs segmenting KRCL’s listeners in categories like “loyalty by half hour.” Several volunteers noted that, according to the Arbitron charts, KRCL’s most successful current programs were playing exactly the types of music that would be banished from daytime in the proposed format switch. ("That's half of what we play," one said.) Currently KRCL's days from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. have among the highest listener “loyalty.”

But the consultant said people tuning into today’s popular KRCL programs were “fringe” listeners who listened only to a few programs and would never become “loyal.”

In addition to the recommended format change (KRCL should be all-music “minimally” from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays), the consultant recommended KRCL hire paid programmers.

Also, that KRCL’s music director program all music that is played during the days. No more having “inconsistent” DJs picking the music that goes out over the air.

Formally, KRCL’s board of directors won’t vote on the recommendations until Feb. 7, two days after a scheduled meeting of volunteers to discuss the proposal. But in fact the train has left the station. KRCL is already advertising for a new music director. Volunteer daytime station DJs were given their walking papers two weeks ago. It now appears that station directors agreed to hire paid DJs sometime this summer when KRCL signed a contract with the Corporation with Public Broadcasting, the agency paying for the station makeover.

All but lost in the general confusion and hubbub of the consultant’s presentation Wednesday was one of the his last recommendations: “Weekend primetime is just as important,” read the phrase projected on the wall.

MC Welk! Dude, I loved your show and lamented the day you were ripped from the mic. One second, I'm listening to Public Enemy, I think it was "Fuck the Police", and the next second you were gone, never to be heard from again. Across the Tracks was right up my alley, man.

Wow, indeed. It is funny that after tens of thousands of dollars, surveys, focus groups and meetings it ends up exactly where WXPN, KEXP, and a dozen other non-commercial stations are. Money well spent, I'm sure.

Wow, I just started casually listening to KRCL, and now it changes. So much for a station trying to EARN the loyalty of its audience through hard work and courage. Guess I'll have to stick to itunes and podcasts.

Oh, right, Welk. "Fuck the Police" is by NWA. At any rate, I was enjoying the show when it changed so suddenly, but then, I was pround that you stuck to your guns and didn't bow to play something less, uh, invigorating. Cheers!

FACT: No margin, No Mission. FACT: No Unique Mission & Vision, no Value Proposition or loyalty from your listeners. Caving in, losing sight, becoming weakened sell-outs, how utterly unattractive. Absolutely Ugly in FACT. AND the Law of Attraction has been proven by 90.9's very growth & current existence. Not at all, what built you, not at all what keeps you dynamically different. KRC&L, 90.9 FM in SLC, had better damned well & soon figure out if it wishes to listen to arrogant, PowerPoint endowed, well-graphed, consultants, or be courageous and continue leading with their head, heart, and GUT, and doing what is best for its collective (and might I add) devoted listeners. We are all watching, waiting, for your decision. OR has it already been made? If so, you are far too low on the list of the insignificant average radio stations to survive. FACT!

We staff members have been trying to put together some ideas and talking points concerning the changes coming to the station. I, with the help of Ryan put together a list of talking points to help answer questions about the changes. We want you on air staff to be ready and willing to help answer questions when you get them, be it from friends & family to people calling with questions on air. There will be a cover story in the city weekly about the changes that we fear will be negative. We want to be able to counter it with the truth and a positive attitude. So here they are, PLEASE add ideas to these, feel free to vent, discuss and get some creative juices flowing. We need your help to make this transition a healthy one.

1. What will change and why:

a. More music from 6 am to 6 pm. You will be able to listen all day and not have to change the station because “that weird show*” came on.

b. Three new (or possibly old) DJs during the morning, mid-day and afternoon drive times.i. Regular hosts will help breed familiarity with the station.ii. The new hosts will be paid and will be beholden to a more professional sound and performance without losing the charm of local music lovers. (less on air jokes about “oops sorry folks, well that’s community radio for you ha ha…” )

c. Change has happened to KRCL many times in the past and understandably will happen again in the future.

d. This change will help us to reach a wider audience and there by help us to serve our community.

e. More PSAs and community announcements will be reaching more people.

f. More people will be financially supporting the station.

g. KRCL will become a more powerful tool.

h. The Wasatch Front has changed and grown, we want to change and grow with it.i. Change is healthy, stagnation is not.i. Many of KRCLs on air volunteers have been doing the same show for over 20 years*. In some ways this is amazing but in other ways, this creates stagnation and hinders growth and expansion.

2. What will not change:a. Our core values and beliefs will not change.

b. KRCL is here to serve the community. This is something fundamental that will NOT change.i. The most important aspirations is to think of our audience first. We love our volunteers, we want to support them and allow them to express themselves but we need to put the needs of the public first.

c. We will continue to feature the best non-commercial music with the on air hosts choosing music that they love.i. We will not be playing music according to corporate playlists.ii. The excellent music selections of KRCL will not change.1. We will be playing a more cohesive smoother mix of the music KRCL listeners have come to expect without the jarring hourly format changes.

3. Filling a void in Salt Lake Radioa. There is a void for quality musical radio along the Wasatch front. By stepping up our professionalism we will be filling that void in a community that has a love for radio and music.i. The proliferation of iPods and Satellite radio is a sign of the fervent interest in music that is so important in society, much more than the trend away from traditional radio. A professional sounding radio station whose goal is to play the best non commercial music will be a huge success and a service to the community.

ALDINE HERE,BEEN LISTENING SINCE THE DEAD AIR DAYS.THE DIFFERENCE IS WHAT GOT ME LISTENING. HEARING "NATZI PUNKS FUCK OFF" OR "FUCK THE SYSTEM" BY DISCHARGE COMING FROM BEHIND THE ZION CURTIAN, WAS TRULY INSPIRING. GRANTED THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED, BUT I'M STILL LISTENING BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE. IT'S A SAD DAY. KODJ? FUCK THAT!

Which KRCL flunky (Ryan maybe?) has been paid to keep posting the "evolution and intelligent design" message? Damage control? Spin? Too bad listeners community radio failed to ask the listeners or the community.

Peter Dominowski is a professional broadcaster, a businessman and an entrepeneur. Are any of you hippie whiners professional broadcasters? Have any of you ever started or run businesses? Have any of you ever had to meet a payroll? Do any of you even work for a living? And no, tenured college professor is not working for a living.

Stop sponging off of the taxpayers and your rich parents' trust funds, start living in the real world and GET A JOB, LAZY BUMS!

Dude, how many times are you gonna use that "tenured college professor, get a job" line?It was lame the first time you posted it. Do you think it will somehow become funny if you post it again and again?

I'm not trying to be funny, hippie--why don't you answer my questions?

And why don't you tell us how much money you sponge off our rich parents' trust fund and when it's going to run out, so you'll start working for a living like real people in the real world?

And if you're a tenured college professor, how much money do you sponge off the taxpayers for sitting around all day, listening to KRCL and having gay sex with your students instead of working for a living and giving the students what they want?

Pay attention and READ the report. Yeah, he's an expert alright-he was hired to specifically prove their hypothesis to become adult rock. The station's own mission statement says it is to serve a MINORITY community. Adult rock is white male (no offense guys). He had NO focus groups of minorities, could not even say if minorities were polled by Arbitron and 'it's not important', no focus groups of non-listeners, no focus groups of people in Park City (KRCL is back transmitting there) or MOAB (where it is simulcast). The consultant did a great job proving a very narrow opinion. Oh, and the focus groups did not include ANY on-air programmers!

Wow, I feel like the Zephyr is closing all over again. I am heartbroken. When I leave town, I come back and turn on KRCL and I feel like I am home again. No more Steve on Tuesdays drive time? Where will I get my new music from? KRCL has kept me happy and inspired the last 11 years I have lived in SLC. Oh my aching heart....rip KRCL

I fear this is going to backfire and oour beloved KRCL will be in worse financial shape than ever and will have lost the key supporters that have kept is alive for over 25 years. I know that I would seriously re-think contributing $ to a radio station goverened by arbitron numbers and play lists. Please read your mission statement again. "KRCL seeks to strengthen our community through diverse, independent, and progressive public affairs and music programming.". It appears what is transpiring is in direct contradiction to the mission statement. I see nothing about pleasing focus groups in the mission statement. Tim Stewart

Hey-Dirty Uncle Davey here-Long time listener, contributor & occasional volunteer.From the era of Brad Collins to Brad Wheeler, KRCL has always represented diversity. My personal tastes can't stand adult contemporary & classic rock gets tired quick. Kick out the Community & the community will turn their backs on you.The damage right now is already pretty huge.There may be no listeners next year, if the proposed changes go through.

The radio should go MORE independent, FREE FORM, triple BBB.Listen to WFMU online if you want to hear independent radio at its' best.

I'm not a tenured professor but I am a business owner ...I'm confused about how dedicated great VOLUNTEER DJ's make it harder for KRCL to pay the bills then PAID DJ's will?Am I missing something?Won't KRCL be out more money when it changes the format?This is an awful decision for the community.

To my listeners:Please know that NO ONE from the station ever approached me to ask my opinion about this. There were a few meetings-always held at night when I work-but no postings, no flyers, nothing in our mailboxes, no emails to keep us informed or ask our opinions as volunteers. Also note the author of the ‘study’ did not come to the meeting last night at the Library to respond to his methods of research. The only person from Board or Staff who did speak was Mr. Roberts. People requested that I post this-the statement I read to the 100 listeners and 50 volunteers who packed the room. I was a bit emotionally overwhelmed to stay after 2.5 hours so I have no comments about what happened later.As a business woman in Utah and a KRCL volunteer for the past 28 years, I was disturbed at the decisions the station has made to go to a mostly white male music format…as presented to the volunteers at last weeks meeting. I was angered at hearing of the survey done on behalf of the station using 60 some odd people in focus groups that were played @90% white male music and then…low and behold…chose a white male music format.When I asked last week at the meeting what the demographics of those surveyed was from the hired expert, I was told they were not important or not available. In addition, I learned that the focus groups were not a collaboration with a community that respected all people and cultures-and the data given immediately showed me the survey violated the mission statement of KRCL. I was angry. I was angry for a few days.Then I began reading the massive listener responses to the City Weekly article and I realized…the hired expert did a great job at his surveys. He was hired to prove a very narrow hypothesis…and he did it by using an extremely small bit of information to prove the desire of the Board and the Staff to change the music format and fire the day time volunteers. If there had been a collaboration between the Board, staff and grant facilitators, and god forbid…volunteers… there would have been a focus group in Moab, in Park City, in Logan, focus groups of different peoples and cultures-minorities, women, the like. Funny, when I talked to Jeff Flanders from KZMU-KRCL’s ‘sister station’ yesterday-he said he had never heard anything about KRCL changing formats from any of the staff. He read about it in the City Weekly. In talking with a staff member of Dan Jones polls here in Utah…they came to the same conclusion…without proper surveying of a good representation of diverse people and cultures, like: non-listeners, just volunteers, just underwriters/sponsors, just Board members, just staff, Moab residents, Park City residents and Logan residents. The survey is poor at best …but does prove a very narrow opinion with very little effort.In addition, to use an example from the Dan Jones pollster…If you want your focus group to chose grapes:You give them these choices:White grape juicePurple grape juiceGreen fresh grapesPurple fresh grapesSliced grapes. What would they choose as their favorite? Grapes of course. This is the same conclusion any person polled would get if they were played the music we heard at the presentation last week.There was no women’s music, no jazz, no R and B, no ethnic music, to name a few. The music played to the focus groups gave them really only one choice: white male alt rock and indie rock. No offense to the sensitive new age guys in the audience. It is what it is.Having served on numerous Boards’ of Directors, I know that one of the responsibilities of the Board is to ensure that the non-profit fulfill its mission statement. Part of the mission statement is that KRCL encourages progressive dialogue. As one of the last volunteers to get a verbal pink slip, I was more than taken aback. You’d think that if someone was hired to find out more about the station, you might want to talk to the volunteer who has been there 28 years. I recognize that’s my ego and sense of virgo logic talking.In looking back, I can’t recall any strategic marketing by KRCL to give commercial radio drive time listeners the knowledge that there are other morning and afternoon drive-times…. and literally ‘go after the drive time market’ head to head with the commercial stations. I do know that NO program director in the past decade has EVER approached me to: make suggestions to improve my program, offer me any kind of training except on new equipment… to improve my radio skills or inform me of any classes I could take to better my program. You’d think if a station had a show that may be the longest running women’s music show in the country, with the only women’s news and women’s history feature, you’d market the hell out of that.

When I asked the expert last week in the meeting about any data relating to KRCL’s previous marketing and advertising strategy in the past ten years to achieve a goal of increased listenership, he stated he had no information and alluded it was also not important. There has been no study of ad/marketing dollars spent per listener.I’m wondering if anyone can produce their past “5 year game plan” to strategically market to a diverse community, how much was going to be spent to that campaign, how the successes/failures were measured, and how to achieve the goals. But that’s water under the bridge now. The past is past. No marketing, no game plan is a fact. The results are no increase in listenership. But even the expert said the most recent Arbitron stats show us equal to one of the local NPR stations in listeners with a budget 10 times less, and it seems achieved with little or no KRCL marketing. I wonder what could have happened with strategic marketing? How ironic that the president of the board is a marketing expert?After last weeks meeting when a Board member followed me out of the room and screamed at me YOU’RE A BITCH, YOU’RE A MONSTER, I HATE YOU AND I’M TIRED OF THIS SHIT, I’M A VOLUNTEER TOO…it’s more than obvious that KRCL is so far off its core beliefs it’s going to die a slow deliberate death. With Board members like that, with leadership and paid staff who opt to fire rather than work as a group to improve, KRCL might as well be a company like Walmart. A reporter called me last week and shared a statement a staff person had given her. When she asked that staff person what was the consensus about the proposed changes between the volunteers, the Board and the Staff, the staff person responded:There’s no consensus. The volunteers have no opinion in this decision.

Now I understand. Rather than say, bring all the Thursday volunteers together and see how they can work as a team to improve the continuity of the shows, it’s best to fire them. That is surely against everything I’ve ever believed about KRCL’s community of collaboration-and that’s straight out of the Mission Statement.Shame on KRCL. Shame on the Board, shame on the Staff. Keep enjoying your free trips to Cuba, your reserved seats at Red Butte and your full passes to Sundance. Devise programs that meet the ideals of the majority-the white male- the traditional media. Alienate yourselves from the community that has built you and served you well. You might also consider re-writing the mission statement because right now you are in complete violation of it by not spending the time and money to encourage awareness of the station, getting community involvement in from more than just a narrow focus, looking beyond traditional media ideas and no longer representing diverse cultural perspectives that encourage dialogue and respect.Again, shame on KRCL. Viva the volunteers and viva the listeners!

Babs De Lay, 28 year volunteer“Women the Third Decade”*have helped raise between $150-200,000 in donations, have personally contributed thousands of dollars, have given over 5000 volunteer hours to the listeners. And vacuumed the floor at the old 800 South KRCL studios for years.

Great post, Babs. As a "straight white male", I've always enjoyed your show. You have an excellent radio presence, a great radio voice and have done a beautiful job with your show. Thanks for everything you've done.

KRCL is now a digital station and will be capable of broadcasting a secondary signal.I wonder if it's possible to us our current on air hosts the broadcast on the secondary signal.There is an old saying, if you don't like the way it's being done do it your self.If all else fails I spoke with Mike Place the systems admin. for Xmision. Xmission is willing to provide the infrastructure to stream programs online and make them available for pod cast.With some effort I think we could develop a internet based community radio station. The two main things to figure out are, a web site for programmers shows and a licensing agreement.

The dismay from Donna Maldonado and the board shouldn’t have been a surprise to listeners or volunteers. KRCL management has been operating like the big government they loathe.

How can the KRCL management expect to increase listeners when for the past decade they can’t even provide information about the station? Case in point: the Cache Valley translator had been on hold for 15 years and the public rarely knew what the problem was or what was being done to solve it.

They espouse democracy and progressive thought and practice just the opposite. Things like closed-door decisions, no communication to the “lesser” family members, and top-down approach to problems.

The KRCL family has been dysfunctional for some time now and this decision to eliminate the daytime volunteers will only continue the downward spiral. I’d like to suggest upper management step down and allow the “family” (i.e. listeners, D.J.s, and volunteers) to participate in a management makeover and address the Corporation for Public Broadcasting issue that is now at hand.

I am crying like I've just learned my close friend is dying of cancer.

What happened here?! When I started listening to KRCL a few short years ago I finally fell in love with Salt Lake City. I proselytize KRCL like a Mormon missionary.

I have too many favorite programs to list, but I have come to love especially Eduman, Liz the Ladybug, Tristan, Amin and Sonja, Babs Delay, Planet and Divine, Jen from Chinese Radio, Inma (noventa punta nueve).

I am crying.

The diverse music they play keeps my week fresh and tolerable and meets my tastes which can only be described as eclectic.

As for "Bad" Brad Wheeler, he's the most annoying DJ on 90.9, the closest approximation to irritating X96 that we get, and yet I've tolerated his braggadocio because everyone deserves a voice.

KRCL, please say this is just a bad joke. Please don't destroy such a significant connection to our community! Please, for the love of God, Allah, Moroni, Satan, or the great nothingness of which we're all a part, please say you're just kidding. Don't do it!

And don't f!@#ing placate me by telling me "krcl has changed before." You're talking about removing the community from community radio.

I once sent a joking text to some friends on a particularly awesome Friday afternoon show: "fuck KRCL." It was just too good. And they knew what I meant.

Now I don't mean it sarcastically. When I think back to all the beautiful afternoons I've spent listening to KRCL while driving, cleaning, skiing, and even hanging out at camp near Moab, I get overwhelmed with joy.

Wow! I have been under a rock, or just in Miami...It looks like the I left my show just in time. I miss KRCL, but I am glad that I missed that... Two words "Lake Effect"You want change, you make change. I was a new DJ who tried to show KRCL some of what they needed. I am sad to hear the dream is dying...

I am mystified by the fact that people who claim to be passionate about our community would squander their activism lamenting the past. It is astounding that this abundance of intense energy is not being used to create postive solutions and alternatives.

We still have a community radio station. The fact that it is more listenable and has a broader, less esoteric, less amateur feel should be celebrated. And for those who cannot celebrate, may you be inspired and motivated to transform your angst into something beautiful and new.

mmmm.. so sad. I'm from Utah but have been living in San Diego for 5 years now. I was shocked and very sad to discover that radio in Utah was way more innovative, community driven, and alternative in Utah than it is in California! (At least in my neck of the woods.)

-April

I was just looking up my old favorite radio station and came accross your article. WHAT a bummer. That is SO sad.

The thing about what they found out from focus groups: so WHAT!? I have all kinds of opinions about what I like and don't like in music. BUt doesn't it get stale? The thing I loved about KRCL was that they brought me new music. Often, I didn't like it. It was like eating Indian food for the first time. BUT THEN, it was like becoming addicted to Indian food. All those different spices! YUM!

I mean, I want a station that broadens my horizons. If I want to listen to music I already know about, I can listen to my own CDs. I heard so so many of my favorite songs for the first time at KRCL. And I loved that the DJ were volunteers playing their own music.

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